Russian stocks fall ahead of central bank decision on key rate

MOSCOW, Dec 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market declined on Thursday in thin trade as investors took profits ahead of a Friday meeting of the central bank that will decide on the key rate, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index decreased 0.77% to 3,008.84, and the RTS index fell 0.68% to 1,055.45.

"The MOEX Russia Index rose to 3,057.08. At the same time, trade volumes did not support the surge of optimism. Besides, activity was even lower on Thursday in the first half of the day than a day before," Otkritie Research leading analyst for global research Andrei Kochetkov said.

In the morning, the Russian market was supported by a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) that brought about a hope that the decline of the key rate could start in March, he said adding that the Russian shares are focused on different markets, and there are signs of a cooling down of the Chinese economy.

Andrei Alekseyev, portfolio manager at managing company Pervaya, said that the market increase was limited by a possible toughening of the monetary policies by the central bank on Friday.

The ruble strengthened in the morning but dove after President Vladimir Putin said that obligatory foreign currency revenue sales were a temporary step, Kochetkov said.

Yandex slumped 2.86% on rumors that the shareholders disagree over reorganization and share swap, he said.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’ five most active stocks on Thursday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.87	258.18	8.345
Lukoil	-1.83	6914.5	5.863
Mechel	+2.54	278.38	4.536
UWC	+1.93	31.7	2.977
Gazprom	-1.35	161.7	2.344

(89.8926 rubles – U.S. $1)

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